Pasaulinė mokytojų rengimo patirtis rodo, kad mentorystė yra vienas veiksmingiausių būdų parengti profesionalius jaunus pedagogus. Mentorius - tai patyręs pedagogas, padedantis profesiškai tobulėti praktiką atliekančiam studentui ir pradedančiam dirbti pedagogui. Kad galėtų padėti jaunam žmogui tobulėti, įgyti praktines vaikų ugdymo kompetencijas bei sėkmingai pradėti karjerą, mentorius turi turėti tokiai veiklai būtinų kompetencijų. Straipsnyje pateikiama teorinė ikimokyklinio ugdymo pedagogo mentoriaus kompetencijų samprata, empiriniais tyrimais pagrįstas mentoriaus kompetencijų modelis. Sis modelis analizuojamas remiantis studentų praktikai vadovaujančių ikimokyklinio ugdymo mentorių nuomone.

This paper analyzes and summarizes foreign authors' attitude towards professional development of beginner pedagogues and its stages as well as peculiarities of mentors' support. Also, the paper presents the research carried out by the Department of Childhood Studies of Vilnius University. The aim of the research was to identify the stage of professional development of preschool education students during their traineeship and beginner pedagogues, to analyze rising difficulties and the peculiarities of mentors' support. Hypothesis: both beginner pedagogues and preschool education students face the problems of organizing the training, the problems of maintaining discipline, lack of initiative, and the problems of integration into institution's community. Ways of mentors' assistance and cooperation meet the needs of charges; provide them with didactic help and help in organizing teaching process; however mentors rarely apply specific techniques and ways of support. Methods. of research: questioning of students, beginner pedagogues and mentors, exploratory experiment in order to evaluate the need for mentor's support and its effectiveness, observation. Participants of the research: 20 students with their mentors and 20 beginner pedagogues with their mentors, totally 80 people, took part in the research.

The aim of consulting is to provide the person with more professional competence, ability to use all the personal qualities at work and to provide the young specialist with suitable conditions for studying and developing. The mastering of consulting technique, the ability to understand and comprehend the children, the purposeful use of consulting and communication means would enable mentors not only to convey their professional knowledge better but also improve relations with trainees, help to raise their self-perception and self-value, expand the possibilities of their professional perfection.